Books, Books and more Books

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Joedjr

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This is a quote from Chris (China Cat), from another thread: (I hope Chris nor anyone else minds)

"There is such an incredible amount of information available about the Bible and Christianity. Check out your local bookstore. My Barnes and Noble has a large U shaped section of nothing but Christian oriented books big enough to put three really comfortable reading chairs and a small table in. There are as many books about Christianity as the whole history section and then some. There's every kind of Bible available. There are exhaustive concordances, racks of weighty tomes of commentary, and Bible atlases of the ancient world. There's Christian fiction like the Left Behind series and young adult novels. There's a huge Christian inspiration genre of books of prayers, poems, and nice thoughts on how to live a fulfilling Christian life. "

"And there's criticism. There's atheist criticism. There are guys like Bishop Spong who are uber-liberal Christian scholars. There are Gnostic scriptures and apocryphal gospels."

"Out of all the books available on every conceivable facet of Christianity and the Bible there are a tiny handful which address the essential questions one should ask about the origins of the texts in the Christian Cannon in a faith neutral, scholarly fashion. Then you have to check for chip-on-shoulder atheists and everyone else with a need for a particular kind of pronouncement. "
Chris

I've been to B&N and Borders and of course Amazon, more books than you could read 24/7 in a lifetime. So Chris (or anyone else), care to recommend a hidden gem from these shelves. Need not be from Christianity, but one that has been a "light" for yourself.
thanks,
Joe
 
Joedjr said:
So Chris (or anyone else), care to recommend a hidden gem from these shelves. Need not be from Christianity, but one that has been a "light" for yourself.
thanks,
Joe
Click to expand...
For Christianity stuff, I like to have open a couple of parallel bibles when I'm looking into a piece of scripture. It allows me to look a 8 different interpretations from the KJV to the Message.

For inspiration I like Errico Rocco
Amazon.com: Rocco A. Errico: Books

To breakdown confusing scripture I used to look at some Judaic meanings, but now found that the metaphysical meanings are similar.
Amazon.com: Metaphysical Bible Dictionary (Charles Fillmore Reference Library): Books: Charles Fillmore

And now for something completely different, or is it?
Amazon.com: Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller--Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century: Books: Napoleon Hill,Arthur Pell
 
"The Secret of the Christian Way"
Jean Borella.

"Christianity: Lineaments of a Sacred Tradition"
Philip Sherrard.

"Spiritual Perspectives and Human Facts"
Frithjof Schuon.
 
Biblical origins

The Bible Unearthed, Israel Finkelstein,Neil Asher

Who Wrote the New Testament?, Burton L. Mack

Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher are from the Copenhagen school of minimalist critique. Burt Mack is a leading proponent of the hypothetical Gospel of Q theory.

Alternative Christianity

Liberating the Gospels, J.S. Spong.

Jesus Christ, Sun of God, David Fideler

Postmodern Philosophy

Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrilard

Anything by Michel Foucault.

General Philosophy with a scientific bent

The Self-Aware Universe, Amit Goswami

The Seven Mysteries of Life, Guy Murchie

Western Magical Tradition

Qabalistic Tarot, Robert Wang. This is the best book on this subject ever produced. It is, unfortunately out of print.

Cool Science

Guns, Germs, And Steel, Jared Diamond

A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe, Michael S. Schnyder. This is by far the coolest book you've ever seen. It's my number one favorite book ever.


Deconstruction

Coercion, Douglas Rushkoff

Propaganda, the Formation of Men's Attitudes, Jacques Ellul

The True Believer, Eric Hoffer

Here's a link to Amazon cause I know you're all so lazy: Amazon.com: The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts: Books: Israel Finkelstein,Neil Asher Silberman



Chris
 
I have more books in my own home library at this point than I have read; hopefully I will catch up soon. I always find Amazon and so forth overwhelming, but I just keep picking away at things, typically starting with lists like these and recommendations from people I know are pretty solid about their recommendations.

Some of my favorites:

Bibles and Non-Canonized Collections-
Comparative Bible: NIV, KJV, NAS, and Amplified
"The Other Bible" (non-canonized books)

Christianity-
Listening for the Heartbeat of God
Liberating the Gospels (not entirely in agreement with it, but it is a good read nonetheless)
The Great Divorce (yeah, it's fiction, but I'll put it down up here). Other stuff by C.S. Lewis is good too, including his non-fiction, but if I had to pick just one, this would be it.

Great fiction that had a lot of meaning for me-
Stuff by Tolkein (if you like rambly story-telling)
Einstein's Dreams
The Year of Living Biblically (not fiction, but rather like documentary- a guy who tried to live by all the Biblical rules for one year- humorous and touching)
Final Gifts (not fiction, stories by hospice nurses about patients' dying experiences)

Druidry and Earth-based-
The Druid's Handbook
The Druid Renaissance
Kinship with All Life (not Druidic, but in the same vein- animal communication)
Make Prayers to the Raven (wonderful ethnography about earth-based spirituality among the Koyukon people of Canada)

Eastern texts (I know, gee, obvious)-
The Bhagavad-Gita
The Tao te Ching (my personal favorite, not to be missed)
The Teachings of Buddha
There are tons of great books, particularly modern Buddhist ones. Not as many at the actual bookstore but once you look them up on Amazon, it is as overwhelming as the Christian section to me.
 
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